


Waking up to perfect

by Lisa_Kate



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, adorable kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisa_Kate/pseuds/Lisa_Kate
Summary: Early mornings are something that has become a bit of a non negotiable in the Reyes-Strand household.orA look into a morning with the family
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 6
Kudos: 127





	Waking up to perfect

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be just a small little drabble but it got away from me and morphed into over 1800 words. these guys just write themselves for me.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! No beta'ed asit was jsut meant to be a drabble so all mistakes are100% me.

Carlos woke up and could tell it was early morning still. The sun was not up and for a minute he was unsure as to what had woken him. Then he heard the call of “Papa” again, rolling out of bed he went into the hallway to see his daughter standing in there lit in silhouettes of the dark. 

Claire had always been an early riser, and Carlos had always enjoyed her padding into their room and jumping into bed with him and TK. The problem was that her wake up time was getting earlier and earlier. What started as an early morning wake up of around 6:00am had slowly grown to the point that she would sometimes be up by 5:00am, or earlier. This was not ideal for anyone with Claire sometimes not getting back to sleep even in their bed and the fact that both TK and Carlos worked shift work, there had been times they had only been asleep for a few hours when they got woken. On top of that Claire did not have the ability to do anything quietly which was not a problem when it was just her but now meant her running down the hall in the early morning would wake their sixteen-month year old. After a discussion both Carlos and TK had agreed to work on encouraging Claire to stay in her room which would hopefully lead to her sleeping longer, help to get her into a good routine for an almost four-year-old (call her three and see how fast it would take for her to correct you that she was “almost for papa!”) and to ensure everyone was getting a good night’s sleep. After some online research they had found a clock that would let Claire know when it was day and when it was night. The clock was a small round one that sat on her bedside table with the time displayed digitally. It was also able to be set so at night-time it lit up blue and had picture of the moon on it, when it reached the set time it would turn yellow and the moon would change to a sun to let Claire know it was day meaning she could get up and come find TK and Carlos, even if that meant climbing into their bed for some more quiet time. They had agreed to set it for 6.00am to start with and see how it goes from there. They had set it up with Claire and explained how it worked and she had seemed excited by it, letting them know she was a big girl.

It was the third night of the clock and Claire was trying her hardest. The first night she had not woken up until after the sun had come on and the clock turned yellow, she had been super proud. Yesterday she had woken up just before and TK had taken her back to her room to wait with her fir the last ten minutes, and when the clock had turned yellow they had come out to Carlos waiting at the door to let Claire know how well she had done. This morning Carlos got a glance at the clock on his way into the hallway, 5:15am. TK had just come off a 24 hour shift and Carlos wanted to avoid waking him as he was exhausted. He gently closed their bedroom door, looking at Claire in her adorable pyjamas holding her teddy fondly named August in the crook of her arm. 

“Papa, I don’t wanna go back to bed.” 

A huge part of Carlos wanted to grab her and take her into their room, but he knew they had agreed to give this a real go. He knelt down next to Claire scooping into her into a hug. “I know bebé, but it is still early, did you check what color your clock was?’ He asked her softly.

“Blue” Claire mumbled softly turning her head into Carlos’ chest.

“Yeah it is which means it is still night-time and you need to be in bed. How about we go back to your room and wait together for your clock to change."

“Together?” Claire confirmed hopefully. Carlos nodded, “Yeah let do that” She announced loudly, taking his hand and dragging him to her room.

“I will get the clock, so we know when it is day!” She ran to grab the clock on her bedside table and Carlos winced at how loud she had announced that. Sofia’s room was right next door and sure enough not a minute later he heard Sofia’s cry.

“Claire, remember we need to be quiet it is still early, and now we woke Sofia” he reminded her gently lifting her back into her bed. There was no way that Sofia would settle on her own and he could hear her cries. Carlos went to go grab her. 

“Papa!” Claire looked betrayed that he was leaving her.

“Bebé I need to go get your sister. I will come back OK’ He reassured her, waiting for Claire to nod before leaving.

He quickly made for Sofia’s room, entering to see her standing up in her cot rubbing her eyes. Upon seeing him she lifted her arms to be picked up, a sleepy little smile crossing her face. “Good morning Sofia did we wake you?’ He picked her up and she immediately snuggled into his chest. This was early for Sofia, who if left undisturbed loved her sleep.

“OK, lets go see Claire huh.” He quickly checked that she was still dry and headed back to Claire’s room with Sofia. Claire was sitting in her bed with the clock clutched in both hands. It had her undivided attention as she stared at it like she could personally will it into turning yellow.

“Papa I am waiting for it to turn yellow!” She announced holding the clock up to show him. Carlos sat down on the bed next to her and she immediately snuggled into his side giving Sofia a kiss on her forehead.

“I can see that you are doing a great job”.

“It is still blue, what time does it say?"

“It says 5.25 bebé, it won’t turn yellow for a while yet.” Claire nodded seriously. They all sat together on the bed cuddled close to wait for morning. Sofia was falling asleep in his arms but with Sofia in one arm and Claire insisting he sit with an arm around her it was not overly comfortable for him. 

“Claire lets lay down so Sofia can get some more sleep” Claire looked at her sister.

“Is Sof sleeping” Claire asked in a hushed voice.

“She is trying to, let’s get her comfortable” Carlos replied. He shuffled them all until they were all laying down. Sofia in his arms and Claire curled into him. He could not help but smile, with his two girls all curled up into him he knew that these early mornings where a blessing.

TK woke up alone. When he opened his eyes, he could tell it was early morning. He reached an arm out only to find his husbands side of the bed was cold. He had a moment of sleepy confusion before realising his husband was probably up with the kids, choosing to let him sleep after his shift even though Carlos had worked the day before as well.  
He rolled out the bed seeing it was 6.15am and was surprised that he could hear no noise from in the house. Claire was a notorious early riser and normally by this time everyone was up and in pursuit of breakfast. He walked softly down the hall glancing into the kitchen and lounge to find both empty. He peeked in Sofia’s room quickly but saw her cot empty, that left only one conclusion. He got to Claire’s room and pushed the slightly ajar door open. The site that greeted him stole his breath away. The three people he loved most in the world where huddled together on Claire’s tiny little bed. Carlos with his big body was pushed up against the rail they used to stop Claire rolling out of her bed. He was laid on his back with his right arm stretched out, in the crook of his arm was Sofia, with the back of her head resting in his arm pit and her body half on his chest, she was facing inwards laying partially on Carlos bare chest her tiny body lifting a little with every one of Carlos deep breaths. The rest of Carlos’ arm was stretched out and wrapped around Claire who was laying on her side across her Papas arm, Carlos’ hand had reached around her curling her in towards him and Sofia and it was resting softly on Claire’s stomach. She was pressed in as close to Carlos and Sofia as possible and clutched in her hand and pressed to her chest was her clock, which was proudly displaying the sun and casting a yellow glow on her face. As if this picture was not enough to melt TKs heart, little Sofia had her tiny hand resting on Carlos’ chest and Carlos’ free hand that was not wrapped around his girls was sitting on top of Sofia’s little one holding it there. All three of them where asleep, Sofia letting out a little snuffle every few breaths and Claire was even drooling a little. TK quietly crept back out Claire’s room making a beeline to his and Carlos’ room to grab his phone and take a picture of this moment, because he never wanted to forget it. Making sure the flash was off TK took at least 10 photos just to be on the safe side, this was being printed and framed for TKs locker.

A huge part of TK wanted to join in on this group cuddle, but the bed was tiny and even if he could fit there is no way he could do it without waking them all up. After staring at them for what felt like an eternity and a second all at once TK made to move to the door thinking he could go into the kitchen and get breakfast ready but just as he was exiting he heard a soft.

“Dada”  
Turning around TK saw that Claire had woken up.  
“Good morning princess” TK smiled at her talking softly. Claire moved her head to look at him.

“I waited for the sun” She mumbled still sleepy and looking at her clock.

“You sure did, I am so proud of you.”

“Papa and Sofia helped, but they are sleeping” Claire whispered not all that quietly.

“Yeah they are” TK agreed. “Did you want to come out with me, let Papa and your sister sleep?”

Claire looked at him and snuggled closer into Carlos and Sofia. 

“Nah I think I might wait a bit longer”.

TK smiled at her, “Ahh, are you gonna have some more cuddle time?” Claire nodded at him. TK smiled leaning over to kiss her cheek. 

“OK baby, you take care of them alright.” Claire nodded seriously stroking Sofia on the head softly.

‘I promise Daddy.”

TK smiled and left the room to the kitchen; he really did have the perfect family and he would not change anything about his life.


End file.
